Governor's focus on education, economy, regaining trust
| • | Lingle sets table for reforms in first year |
| • | A chronology since inaugural |
By Gordon Y. K. Pang and Lynda Arakawa
Advertiser Capitol Bureau
Gov. Linda Lingle focused on three areas during her first year in office — the economy, education and restoring trust in government.
But her proposals received lukewarm reviews at the Democratic-controlled Legislature.
The governor ended up vetoing 50 bills that the Legislature sent her. Democratic lawmakers later overrode six of her vetoes in what was only the second override session in state history.
Lingle said her performance cannot be judged strictly by her record in the Legislature and that she can also make changes through administrative rules and altering policy. For instance, she said, the state Department of Agriculture amended animal quarantine rules that significantly shortened the confinement period for pets meeting certain requirements.
Other achievements she cited included promoting the captive insurance industry and hosting conferences on homeland security and Asia-Pacific issues, which she said brought both business and attention to the state.
The governor also cited state lawmakers bowing to her wishes in crafting a general fund budget that did not tap $175 million from the Hawai'i Hurricane Relief Fund, which former Gov. Ben Cayetano had said was necessary to help balance the budget. Lingle said it was a move toward fiscal accountability.
Lingle also went to Washington, D.C. to lobby for the Akaka bill, which has stalled in the U.S. Senate. She also made another pitch to President Bush during his one-day visit here in October. The president, however, did not mention the bill at his re-election fund-raiser at the Hilton Hawaiian Village that night.
Other highlights of how Lingle's ideas fared in her first legislative session in 2003:
Passed
• Ko Olina tax credit: A bill granting $75 million in tax credits over 10 years to the developers of the Ko Olina Resort to help stimulate the economy along the Wai'anae Coast.
• Procurement reform: An omnibus procurement bill aimed at cutting the link between government contracts and campaign contributions from potential consultant contractors, although at least one veteran government finance officer believes that the system remains ripe for abuse as long as there is negotiating involved between a government agency and a consultant.
• Mental health parity: A measure making permanent a law that requires insurance coverage for serious mental illnesses to be the same as coverage for other medical conditions. Lingle testified before lawmakers on the bill, citing her mother's struggle with mental illness.
Failed
• Education: A bill placing on the ballot a constitutional amendment that would establish locally elected school boards. House Democrats, many of whom backed a similar plan the previous year, bottled up the bill. Lingle's proposals to remove school principals from their union and allow charter schools to hire non-union employees also stalled in the Legislature.
• Campaign finance reform: A measure making it illegal for the state or city to award a contract to someone who contributed campaign money to a candidate within the past two years.
• High-technology tax credits: Legislation curbing high-technology tax credits under Act 221. The proposed amendments would include removing language that the tax credit be "liberally construed" and changing the 20 percent refundable credit on research activities to a nonrefundable credit applicable only to increased research activities.
• Standard deduction: A bill lowering the standard deduction designed to help those in the lowest rung of taxpayers.
